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World number one Novak Djokovic impressed again at his first tournament since being deported ahead of the Australian Open, beating Russian Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6(2) to reach the Dubai Championships quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Just as against Lorenzo Musetti in his opening match here on Monday, Djokovic received plenty of vocal support from a large crowd at the Aviation Club and responded with some dazzling tennis under the lights.
The 20-times Grand Slam champion dominated the opening set after breaking serve in the fourth game with a winner.
It was much more of a battle in the second set as Khachanov recovered from an early break of serve to level the set at 4-4.
Djokovic was forced to pull out all the stops to fend off a fired-up Khachanov, forging ahead in the tiebreak and claiming victory on his first match point.
The Serbian is competing for the first time this year after his Australian Open hopes were dashed when he was deported following an 11-day saga revolving around his decision not to have a COVID-19 vaccination and a controversial exemption he had been granted to play in the event.
Medvedev makes winning start
Russia's Daniil Medvedev defeated Benoit Paire of France 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the Abierto Mexicano tournament in Acapulco on Tuesday to get his quest for the world number one ranking off to a winning start.
World number two Medvedev is looking to ascend to the top ranking for the first time by displacing Serbian Novak Djokovic, who is competing at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Djokovic will be forced to relinquish the crown even if he wins Dubai for a sixth time, provided the Russian wins the ATP 500 event in Acapulco, where he is making his tournament debut.
"If Novak would not be playing, then maybe it would be a little bit more in my mind because it would only be me and it depends on what I can do," Medvedev said.
Taking to the main showcourt after Medvedev's win, Rafael Nadal breezed past 100th-ranked American Denis Kudla 6-3 6-2 in his first match since winning the Australian Open last month for his 21st Grand Slam title.
The 35-year-old Spaniard seemed to have some problems with the humidity on a warm night in the coastal resort town and decided to save as much energy as he could, sealing the contest in 76 minutes with his 16th forehand winner and 26th overall.
Nadal lost just four points on his serve while breaking his opponent three times to race to his 11th consecutive win in the 2022 season.
Medvedev's contest also appeared to be a one-sided affair when Paire dumped a lifeless forehand into the net to hand the Russian the first set in 51 minutes. But Paire flexed his muscle in the second, attacking the Russian's serve for a 4-2 lead.
Playing for the first time since his defeat to Nadal in the Australian Open final, Medvedev kept his focus and outworked the Frenchman in a back-and-forth deuce game to level at 4-4 and sealed the win when Paire's backhand sailed into the net.
"It's always not easy to come back after some rest and some time off competition," Medvedev said. "Sometimes better, sometimes worse.
"I felt like my sensations were not at the top today, but I managed to fight until the end against a very tough opponent and I'm happy that I managed to win."
In other contests, Italian world number six Matteo Berrettini won the first set 6-4 against American Tommy Paul but retired with injury while trailing 1-5 in the second.
Australian John Millman was also forced to retire against American Marcus Giron when he suffered a freak injury by hitting the tennis ball into his own eye.
Raducanu retires with hip injury in final set of Guadalajara opener
US Open champion Emma Raducanu was forced to retire with a left hip injury in the deciding set of her opening match against Australia's Daria Saville on Tuesday in the WTA 250 tournament in Guadalajara, Mexico.
The 19-year-old from Britain was playing her first match since last month's painful exit in the second round of the Australian Open, when a blistered racket hand contributed to a three-set defeat by Danka Kovinic.
The British player was two points from victory at the Abierto Akron Zapopan against former world number 20 Saville, who has slipped to 610 in the rankings after undergoing surgery on her Achilles tendon last year.
Serving for the match at 7-5, 5-3 Raducanu failed to close out the game with the Australian fighting back to level the contest at 1-1 in the tiebreaker.
Both women suffered physically during the deciding set, with Saville battling leg cramps while the 12th-ranked Raducanu went off the court for a medical timeout.
Raducanu returned with her upper left leg heavily taped and after two more games decided to quit with Saville leading 5-7, 7-6 (4), 4-3 after three hours and 36 minutes - the longest WTA match of the season.
